Star Trek: SNW season 4’s debut features a BIG threat & some cool ‘in camera’ effects

“Life, uh, finds a way” in the very first episode!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 won’t waste any time when the first episode drops later this month, in terms of the challenges to be faced. As it turns out, the crew of the USS Enterprise will square off against a Jurassic Park-sized threat in the very first episode of the new season. Yes, the dinosaurs which appear in the footage from the teaser and official trailer are in the upcoming SNW S4 premiere.

Strange New Worlds director Chris Fisher let the Pterodactyl fly out of the bag while commenting on an image he directed from season 4’s first installment. Fisher wrote in response to the photo, which fans can check out below, on X, formerly Twitter): “That’s a shot I directed for the premiere episode of season 4 on our #virtualproduction #volume – and yup, that’s all ‘in camera’ – with zero post VFX. VP is next step in film and tv production and #startrek #strangenewworlds is leading the way.”

I’m so excited that Strange New Worlds isn’t waiting until later in the season to unveil the dino-mite episode. For those who may not have seen the footage, Number One, aka Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), and Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) comprise the landing party that comes face to face with the Jurassic-esque threat in the 23rd century. And the image above matches up perfectly with the threesome going up against dinosaurs and more in the teaser and official trailer.

There are a couple of moments which really stand out in the SNW season 4 official trailer, regarding the dinosaur planet. First, the aforementioned landing party encounters an enormous Tyrannosaurus rex, and La’an takes aim with her phaser and shoots a blast into its mouth! Second, a Pterodactyl can later be seen flying in space and unleashing a fiery Godzilla-like attack against the Enterprise!

Romijn has also revealed in interviews that an actual puppet from Jurassic Park was used during filming and that “there’s a fight scene between one of our characters and that puppet.” I don’t know if the actress meant a hand-to-hand battle, but I’d be willing to guess she’s referring to La’an taking on the Tyrannosaurus with her phaser. Either way, fans won’t have to wait much longer.

So, as Dr. Ian Malcolm once said in the original Jurassic Park (1993), “Life, uh, finds a way” — only this time on Strange New Worlds. Are you as excited as I am to see the crew of the Enterprise take on the dinosaur and pterosaur shown in the SNW teaser and official trailer? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.…Read more by Steven Thrash